Man-eating tiger tranquilised in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, March 1 (IANS) A man-eating tiger, which had killed five people and created panic in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur-Kheri district, was Sunday tranquilised near Dudhwa National Park, a forest department official said. “This is a major success for us as we could avoid its killing even though it appeared to have turned into a confirmed man-eater,” state’s Chief Wildlife Conservator B.K. Patnaik told IANS here.

“WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) expert had been on the tiger’s trail for almost a month but the animal managed to get away until he got the feline from a hurriedly created ‘machan’ near the spot where it had attacked a bait earlier in the day,” Patnaik said.

However, the state’s wildlife department is reluctant to set the animal free in the woods.

“Since this particular animal is known to have shown confirmed signs of turning into a man-eater, it would not be appropriate to leave it in the forests,” said Patnaik.

“We propose to first bring the tiger to Lucknow zoo where we will undertake further study before taking a final decision,” he added.

The tiger is believed to have strayed away from Kisanpur sanctuary of Dudhwa National Park.

This follows last week’s shooting of another tiger that had been on the run after straying out of the forests of Pilibhit and had travelled at least 400 km in four months. Forest officials then had claimed that it was the infamous man-eater on the run for the past four months.